Nguyen Van Thieu

Nguyen Van Thieu (5 April 1923-29 September 2001) was the President of South Vietnam from 14 June 1965 to 21 April 1975, succeeding Phan Khac Suu. He was a general in the ARVN, and he later became the head of a military junta and was elected President in 1967. He remained leader of South Vietnam until the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

Biography
Nguyen Van Thieu was born in Phan Rang, Annam, French Indochina in 1923, and he served in the Vietnamese National Army during the First Indochina War, fighting against the communist Viet Minh (in which he had once served). Following the French withdrawal from Indochina, he headed the Vietnamese National Military Academy and became a colonel. He put down a 1960 coup against Ngo Dinh Diem, converted to Catholicism, and joined the Can Lao Party. However, he agreed to join the 1963 coup against Ngo, and he was made a general after overthrowing and killing the president. Nguyen became a member of the military junta ruling the country, and he was elected President in 1967; he came from the National Social Democratic Front party. However, he engaged in corruption, appointing regime loyalists to high command instead of talented people. During the Fall of Saigon, he was evacuated in an American helicopter, and he lived in Boston, Massachusetts until his death in 2001.